In a typical railway train braking system, the air brake pressure that is developed in the locomotive brake cylinders is controlled by either the automatic brake control handle or the independent brake control handle. In certain situations, it may be desirable to bail-off or release the air pressure in the locomotive brake cylinders which is caused by the automatic brake application to allow the brakes on the locomotive consist to be independently controlled from the brakes on the remaining vehicles of the train. For example, when a train is descending a grade, it may be advisable to release the brakes on the locomotive consist to prevent bunching of the trailing vehicles of the train. This releasing action is referred to as bailing-off of the locomotive brakes. In a multiple locomotive consist, the manipulation of the independent brake handle on the lead locomotive causes the pneumatic propagation of air to the remaining locomotives of the consist by way of an air pipe connecting each of the locomotive independent brake in series. The air pipe is known as the #20 independent application and release pipe (IARP). In addition to the above-noted air pipe, there is an air pipe called the #13 quick release pipe (QRP) whose function is to pneumatically propagate a bail-off request from the lead locomotive to the trailing locomotives of the consist. In practice, the independent brake handle provides the means of controlling the pressure in the locomotive brake cylinders irrespective of the automatic brake handle position or the state of the automatic brake pressure on the train. To direct air pressure into the locomotive brake cylinders, the engineer manually moves the independent brake handle into an application zone or region. This causes air under pressure to be then directed through the #20 independent application and release pipe and, in turn, to the brake cylinders in proportion to the air pressure in the #20 pipe. The amount of air pressure in the brake cylinders is directly proportional to the extent of the independent handle movement into the application zone. In order to release and exhaust the air in #20 pipe, the engineer simply manually moves the independent brake handle to the release position. That is, to release the air from only the locomotive brake cylinders during an automatic brake application, the engineer, the train operator in the lead locomotive moves the independent brake handle in a lateral direction. At the same time, the air under pressure in the locomotive brake cylinders can be retained, exhausted or reapplied by selectively moving independent brake handle between the release and application positions. When a number of locomotives are operated in tandem, it is important to remember that a bail-off operation requires a sufficient period of time to charge the quick release pipe (QRP) to a required actuating level on the trailing locomotives in the consist. In a conventional braking system, the engineer must estimate the amount of time to hold the independent brake handle in the bail-off position. If the engineer does not hold the independent brake handle in a bail-off position for a long enough period of time, the air pressure in the #13 quick release pipe will not reach the actuating level of twenty-five pounds per square inch (25 psi) on the trailing locomotives in the consist so that the brakes on these locomotives remain applied thereby resulting in an undesirable residual braking action. A rule of thumb is that a time period of four seconds (4 sec.) for each locomotive in the consist should be adequate time to charge the #13 quick release pipe on the last locomotive. For example, if there are three locomotives in the consist, the independent brake handle should be held in the bail-off position for twelve seconds (12 sec.).